Maul, Alfred (1864–1941)

German engineer who, in 1904, successfully took aerial photographs of the
ground from a height of 600 meters (2,000 ft) by attaching cameras to a
black powder rocket, thereby creating
the first instrumented sounding rocket. His 1912-model rocket carried a
20- by 25-cm photographic plate stabilized by a gyroscope.
This method of reconnaissance was discontinued, however, upon the advent
of airplanes.